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Surrey Fraser Docks is pushing for more shipping up the Fraser River once the Massey Tunnel is replaced by a new bridge, but the company estimates it would take approximately $200 million in a one-time capital cost to dredge an additional two metres of river depth to enable ships to load fully.

Last month, Premier Christy Clark announced the province will begin construction in 2017 on a new bridge over the south arm of the Fraser between Richmond and Delta, at an estimated cost of around $3 billion.

At the time of Clark’s announcement, Port Metro Vancouver CEO Robin Silvester said he supports the plan for a new bridge since it could reopen the river to deeper-draft vessels, but gave no indication if the federal Crown corporation would share in the cost.

According to Port Metro Vancouver’s website, the Fraser River requires annual maintenance dredging because, on average, the river deposits an estimated 3.5 million cubic metres of silt and sand within the shipping channel — enough to fill Rogers Arena.

Right now $11.2 million is spent annually to dredge the Fraser in order to maintain a navigational channel of 11.5 metres at its most shallow point. The annual dredging cost is paid by Port Metro Vancouver, which in turn collects harbour dues to help recoup that cost from the vessels using the Fraser.

Surrey Fraser Docks CEO Jeff Scott said by adding another two metres to the navigational channel, to a depth of 13.5 metres, the larger cargo vessels that already use the river could be fully loaded. Otherwise, he said, companies that want to fully load their vessels will use other ports in the Lower Mainland or the United States and bypass the Fraser entirely.

Scott said the one-time capital cost to dredge the extra two metres could be a co-venture between the public and private sectors. Presumably, the annual maintenance dredging would remain the same.

“I think it (dredging two additional metres) creates opportunities for growth and expansion up and down the Fraser River that could result in thousands of jobs and significant economic benefit,” said Scott. “Using the Fraser River as a marine highway adds flexibility. Right now we are underutilized as a terminal and B.C. jobs will go to other jurisdictions like Seattle, Tacoma or elsewhere.”

Scott said the river is dredged annually around May and June when the snow melts and silt and other debris are deposited into the Fraser.

Scott said improving the Fraser River as a marine highway would also take more trucks off the road. He gave the example of the Interfor sawmill, adjacent to Fraser Surrey Docks, that trucks all its lumber to Burrard Inlet, where larger ships can be filled to capacity.

“If we had deeper draft we’d be able to load those trucks,” said Scott. “Right now it’s not cost efficient because they would have to load twice.”

Critics of the project are concerned about the environmental impact to the river and say an environmental assessment is critical, since any changes to the Fraser could be potentially harmful to the habitat, particularly for fish and wildlife.

Douglas George Massey, the son of George Massey whom the Massey Tunnel is named after, said in 2012 the Fraser River estuary was designated by the UN Ramsar committee as a “wetland of international significance” for its international ecological importance for migratory birds and fish species.

While Scott agrees an environmental assessment would be necessary, he noted the area they are talking about wouldn’t be a new area being dredged since Port Metro Vancouver already carries out its annual maintenance dredging program on the Fraser River.

“Our ports have been dredged for over 100 years and the dredging would be in the same channel, so there’s already a program there that considers all that (the environmental impact),” said Scott.

But Massey said the exact costs and potential to the environment of the additional dredging isn’t known.

“It will take millions to make (the proposed Deas Island) bridge higher, to dredge the Fraser and decommission the tunnel, but no one is coming up with figures on the costs. Don’t destroy the river so a private company can make money on it,” said Douglas George Massey.

“You have an expansion for Roberts Bank — why do it up the river? Is there going to be a full environmental study done?”

Roger Emsley, of Citizens Against Port Expansion, said he is also concerned about the effect of further dredging on the environment.

“The environmental impact of removing the tunnel and dredging is a large unknown. This is a river that is constantly abused,” he said.

“I will be looking for an independent review.”

The provincial government estimates the Massey Tunnel, which carries about 80,000 vehicles daily, has about 10 years of useful life yet before major components need to be replaced and anticipates the tunnel will be decommissioned once the new bridge is built.

The Massey tunnel is 11.6 metres tall and sits below the bottom of the river. The tidal assist allows deep sea vessels to pass over it. The depth of the Fraser River at the tunnel location is 11.9 metres at low water.

Under the current channel conditions the Fraser River can handle vessels that are 270 metres LOA (length overall), 32.2 metres beam, and 11.5 metres draft (with tidal assist). That translates to a vessel being fully loaded at 55,000 DWT (dead weight tonnage) and with the additional two metres of river depth, it could increase to a full load of 80,000 DWT.

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